DOLLY Parton sang about working from nine to five – but nowadays it’s not unusual to skip the office and work from home.

And just because you’re not sitting where your boss can see you, it doesn’t mean you’re not working hard. So how come some people just don’t believe you actually are if you’re home-based?

One in five employees believes that colleagues who work flexible hours are less committed to the job than those at their desk full-time, claims a new survey.

And workers in their 20s and 30s are most likely to suspect those at home have a weaker work ethic says the report.

Maybe they secretly suspect some are sitting in their PJs watching daytime telly with a cup of tea and biscuits. OK – the biscuits and tea bit might be true – but it’s in front of a computer.

As I type in my front room, I’m sitting here in scruffy jeans and a comfy top with no make-up – but I’m still being productive. Just because I’m not dressed for business every day doesn’t mean I’m not able to work just as hard.

As a home worker, I’d argue my work ethic is stronger than ever.

I do enjoy my job but as I have three young children depending on me, I also need to earn a living, which gives me all the motivation I need. This survey is about people’s perceptions rather than how a bit of flexibility can work well in practice.

Fiona Severs

And, actually, other surveys point to the many benefits of flexible working.

According to research from the London School of Economics and Political Science, home workers are more productive than their office-bound colleagues because they are less distracted, they are grateful for the flexibility, and the time they save on commuting is put back into work.

Research shows only five per cent of home workers cheat the system.

On average, they actually work an extra four hours.

I can see the benefits. I’ve cut my hour each way commute down to a few seconds, so I can start earlier.

I can focus working away in the quiet – although it can occasionally get a little lonely.

Mandy Garner, web editor at workingmums.co.uk, said: “Research shows flexible workers tend to be more loyal and also having children makes it more important that you keep your job.”

She says BT actually found they had to manage home-based staff to ensure they didn’t overwork.

“Just because someone is in an office sitting in front of you doesn’t necessary mean they’re working flat out,” she added.

“It’s about looking at the work someone produces rather than whether they’re in the office for certain hours.”

Mandy Garner

But she says a downside for a home worker can be a feeling of isolation and missing out on the water cooler chats. “In one place I worked they put a picture of me with a frame round it on the desk to remember to copy me in,” she said.

Fiona Severs, a director at Lexington Gray, a consultancy specialising in flexible work, said that, as well as working mums, the so-called sandwich generation of people caring for their ageing parents may also need flexibility.

“From the employers’ point of view, by allowing their staff to work flexibly they are better able to hold on to key members of staff who might otherwise have to stop work,” she said.

Peter Samson

Glasgow-based PR consultant Peter Samson, of PDS Media, has been working from home for 15 years and says he’s much more productive, while many of his clients prefer it as it keeps his costs down.

And when people question how he finds the motivation, he answers: “It’s a no-brainer – motivation starts with the same letter as mortgage so I need one to pay the other.”

I’d have to agree. But I wonder if it would technically be possible to work anywhere. So maybe one day I’ll be writing this from a Mediterranean beach.